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Foreigner could head Russian lab
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RUSSIA says a “foreign specialist” could take over as chief of its anti-doping watchdog as the fallout from a no-holds-barred report on drug-taking and corruption at the heart of Russian athletics spreads ahead of possible international sanctions.
The first casualty in the wake of the scandal, which erupted on Monday with a report commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency, was the head of Russia’s anti-doping laboratory, Grigory Rodchenkov, who resigned after his laboratory was suspended over the allegations.
Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said that Moscow could possibly appoint a foreign expert to take over the vacant position. “We are absolutely open and ready as a result of consultations with WADA to appoint even a foreign specialist to lead the laboratory if it is necessary,” Mutko told the R-Sport news agency.
Bad weather, meanwhile, was preventing a planned meeting between Mutko and President Vladimir Putin with Russia facing a possible ban from the Olympics over the allegations of “state-supported” doping.
Damning charges
Putin, himself an avid sportsman, has made no comment since the damning charges surfaced on Monday.
But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the allegations were due to be discussed at the meeting in the Black Sea resort of Sochi involving Putin, Mutko and the heads of Russian sports federations.
Bad weather in the area, however, delayed the meeting and cast some doubt over whether it would go ahead at all.
The meeting, said Peskov, had already been on the cards for weeks to discuss the country’s preparations for next summer’s Games in Rio de Janeiro.
The WADA-commissioned report outlined systematic doping in Russian athletics and large-scale corruption reaching up to government level and its chairman, Canadian lawyer Richard Pound, called for Russia to be banned from all athletics competition.
Subsequently, the head of the International Association of Athletics Federations, Sebastian Coe, gave Russia until the end of the week to respond to the unprecedented charges.
Ahead of the Sochi meeting, Mutko said he believed the doping allegations were aimed at tarnishing the country’s image. “This possibility exists because some benefit from removing a direct competitor, and others benefit from soiling the country’s image,” he told R-Sport.
Mutko also took a shot at Britain, criticizing the country’s anti-doping authorities for failing to catch all the supposed Russian drug cheats at the 2012 London Olympics.
The report implicated Mutko’s ministry in covering up failed drug tests by Russian athletes. It also said that six athletes were allowed to compete in London after earlier anti-doping cases against them were slowed down.
“If you’re accusing our athletes today, then I’m afraid your system is zero and worse than ours,” Mutko said.
The Kremlin has dismissed the allegations as “groundless” and sports authorities in the country have promised a rapid response to avoid being sidelined from next year’s Games.
The crisis engulfing athletics, long viewed as the flagship of the Olympic Games, comes hot on the heels of a huge corruption scandal at world football’s top body FIFA.
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